Esdeath dismounted her horse and looked down at the group of prisoners, bound tightly.
A once-thriving village of a thousand souls had been reduced to only a handful of survivors. This was the brutal reality of war.
"These damn Empire soldiers, they attacked us out of nowhere."
"The only reason you were defeated was because you were too weak. There's no other reason."
"Esdeath, you'd better not let me survive. If I do, I will surely kill you."
The foreign tribesman glared at Esdeath, his eyes burning with resentment, fury, and an overwhelming killing intent. He was not joking—his words were a serious, deeply ingrained hatred.
But Esdeath only smiled at his threat.
"Untie them."
"Yes, General."
Without hesitation, one of the soldiers drew a knife and began to cut the bonds of the prisoners.
The group of foreign tribespeople stood frozen, not understanding what Esdeath was doing.
"Go," Esdeath ordered coldly.
"Wh-what do you mean?" one of them stammered.
"You are free now. I will not kill you."
"Are you mocking us? You slaughter our village and now you set us free?"
"Exactly. With the hatred you carry, you'll do anything to survive. Then, come back and kill me someday. That would be perfect."
"Y-you..."
"Go, use every trick you have, and come for your revenge."
"You'll regret this, Esdeath."
The prisoners exchanged glances and quickly fled. No one was willing to die.
For those watching, whether it was the Three Beast Warriors or the soldiers surrounding them, no one seemed surprised by this turn of events.
It was routine. After every victory, most of the enemies would be killed. As for the prisoners, the majority would also meet their end. But every time, there were always a few left alive and set free.
This was Esdeath's method. She let them go, knowing that their hatred would keep them alive, and eventually, they would return to exact revenge.
Esdeath loved war. She reveled in the sense of crushing all enemies beneath her feet and eradicating them completely.
So, she never allowed war to end. After destroying one tribe after another, she would leave seeds of hatred behind, which would slowly grow into new enemies.
Thus, she could enjoy war forever. This was Esdeath—the super sadistic queen-general.
After the prisoners had been released, Esdeath's gaze shifted to August.
This was the perfect moment to test her thoughts. Here was a freshly conquered village, surrounded by bloodshed and corpses, including women who had been violated by her soldiers.
If August was merely trying to please her, his true feelings would surely show now.
Years ago, General Najenda, once the youngest general in the Empire alongside Esdeath, had betrayed the Empire because she couldn't stand Esdeath's methods.
Often, the slightest change in a person's expression could reveal their true thoughts.
As Esdeath observed August, she noticed that his expression hadn't changed much throughout the ordeal. In fact, a brief flash of 'disappointment' and 'unfinished business' had crossed his face.
Esdeath caught every detail. In that moment, she was certain: August was like her. He too was someone who would enjoy the thrill of war, without any of the messy feelings of guilt or doubt.
August, unaware of the subtle shifts in his expression after absorbing the negative energy of the place, had been misinterpreted by Esdeath.
His 'disappointment' stemmed from the fact that this was just a small village—less than a thousand people, with too little negative energy to be worth his time.
The 'unfinished business' feeling was because the process of consuming void energy had just begun and was suddenly cut short. That's why it felt incomplete.
As for the slaughtered villagers and the violated women, August genuinely didn't care.
They weren't his people. They had no personal connection to him. Killing them made no difference.
"Continue forward," Esdeath commanded.
With that order, the army pressed on.
This was just a small appetizer. The appearance of a foreign village meant they had entered the heart of the northern tribes' territory.
This was the signal that the real war was drawing ever closer.
However, despite entering enemy territory, Esdeath had no intention of speeding up her advance.
She was waiting. Waiting for all the northern tribes to gather together. After all, she was well aware of her fearsome reputation.
The entire north was covered in ice and snow. Hunting down individual villages would be a waste of time. It was far more efficient to let them all congregate and wipe them out in one fell swoop.
The more enemies there were, the more excited Esdeath became. That was the real meaning of conquest.
Over the next week or so, the army encountered a dozen or so villages. Each one was wiped out completely.
Esdeath and her army of one hundred thousand had now reached the northern frontier, and word quickly spread.
In this era, without modern communication, news traveled slowly—especially in this icy, frozen landscape.
It was for this reason that Esdeath intentionally slowed down her march. Each evening, she would set up camp and wait until the next day before continuing her journey.
This not only spared her soldiers from the biting cold of the nights but also gave the northern tribes plenty of time to prepare for what was coming.
From the scouts' reports, Esdeath learned that the northern tribes had already begun to unite.
The northern tribes' prince, the hero Numa Seika, had recently acquired an Imperial Teigu, which had greatly increased his prestige among his people.
Ambitious, Numa sought to unify the north. However, with various tribes holding different interests, the task was far from easy.
But when Esdeath's forces arrived, the tribes' fear of her became undeniable. Seizing the moment, Numa began boasting about his power and making promises that he would personally defeat Esdeath.
At this point, many of the tribes, driven by fear, began to gather in the royal city.
Some of the tribal leaders understood Numa's ambition to rule the north, but they had no choice—his promise of protection was more appealing than facing Esdeath's wrath.
As a result, the northern royal city saw its army grow every day, and the force gathering there was only getting larger.
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